Sing Me A Song
by DocWriter
Summary: It's been a month since Chief Stoick announces the engagement between his recently returned son and the Berk's top warrior (and soon to be Chieftess). Astrid has since then treated Hiccup as coldly as she did when he left six years ago. As her birthday comes close, will a song from the young traveller change the way she feels for him?
1. Chapter 1

**DISLAIMER: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon. Rights belong to Cressida Cowell and Dreamworks.**

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Berk, just one of your run of the mill, Viking villages on the Viking Archipelago along the Meridian of Misery located almost near the icy roof of the planet (and just like any other village in this side of the world; also suffering from the occassional dragon raids from time to time). It was a peaceful morning; no dragon raid happened for the past few weeks, no marauding neighboring Viking villagers. All in all, for the residents of this little village, this would be a quiet day until…

"YOU WANT ME TO WHAT!?" a loud voice from the local forge gets the attention of the people living in the small village. Said voice comes from Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the 21 year old son of the chief of the Hairy Hooligans; former heir apparent to the chiefdom; and current apprentice to the local blacksmith, Gobber the Belch.

 ** _Inside the Forge, Hiccup's Section_**

"Get any louder and you'd be waking up Mr-Sleeps-A-Lot*." Hadrian remarked dryly. "You'd have to wonder how he keeps his job."

Hiccup chuckles at the remark before saying, "Well, he _is_ very good at what he does."

"Yep. Luckily for him…anyway we're getting out out of topic. I want you to sing at you're fiance's birthday celebration party tomorrow night.", the man adds while talking a calm but rather teasing manner.

"Are you serious? You want me to sing on front of virtually everyone in the tribe? To Astrid? On her birthday." Hiccup replied in an irritated, disbelieving tone.

Hadrian simply raised his eyebrows and nodded.

"Unbelievable." Hiccup says while facepalming with his left hand.

Hadrian simply sighs while putting a hand on Hiccup's shoulder in a brotherly display of affection. "Look. I know you and Astrid don't exactly get along too well, but give it a chance."

"That's a way to say it." Hiccup cuts him off at that. "Astrid wouldn't come near me even if she's on fire and the only one in the village holding a bucket of water was me." he adds.

"You don't actually know that." Hadrian replies. Hiccup gives him a weird look basically saying 'what' in his mind. "You'd be pretty surprised at what people would be willing to do once their survival instincts kick in". Hadrian finishes.

Hiccup simply inhaled deeply, wanting no more from the conversation as he resumed his work absentmindedly hammering on a sword. His companion sat around on a vacant table in the workshop and brought out a book he brought with him earlier before going to the forge and started reading.

For a short time, the Roman looks to his sworn brother who was busily working in the forge. He knew that Hiccup and Astrid were engaged simply because everyone in the tribe wanted Astrid to be chief and the only other way for her to be so without resulting to the murder of the father-and-son Haddocks would be to marry into the Haddock family; an arrangement which according to Hiccup was one Astrid seem to dislike with much passion.

"Its like...you know when dad basically told her a month ago that she has to marry me in order to be chief, you weren't here yet that day when dad talked to her about the arrangement. You should have seen how she looked like. She seemed as if some waiter got her order wrong." Hiccup suddenly says breaking the awkward silence in the room while stopping on his work. "I mean seriously. She got this look that basically says 'Waiter, I asked for a fiance that's got big biceps on him. You know the type which I could get lost on in my dreams. I didn't ask for a skinny chicken. I'm not paying for this' ." he adds, with the last part of him talking in a rather girly pitch complete with the appropriate facial and hand gestures in an obvious attempt to impersonate the blonde shieldmaiden.

Hadrian simply gives him a bemused look then says, "Wow. I don't know whether to be disturbed or actually impressed with that...I mean the last time, sensei and I loved the whole 'Barmaid thing', I never thought you actually have an Astrid version of it...anyways...Look Hiccup, like it or not, you two will be stuck with each other once you tie the knot. The least you have do would be to actually try to make it work."

"You think I didn't try that before. I was with her and dad when they went to the annual meeting of Chieftains in Shivering Shores last week." Hiccup replies. "Not a word. I didn't hear a word from her. The only thing I heard were grunts and looks which basically could kill me if God actually makes it so that glares can actually kill. We were on the same ship and she looked like she'd rather jump off the ship if she had a choice rather than talk to me. I had better time talking people like Heather who I just recently met." He rants out.

"Heather...who now?" the Roman asked, a bit surprised as apparently another woman caught his sworn brother's eyes.

"Heather." Hiccup corrected. "Oswald the Agreeable's daughter. Heard of her before when good ol' Oswald comes here to visit. First time meeting her last week though."

"Wait…I thought you were into Astrid." Hadrian remarked, something that earned a glare from Hiccup which the former simply shrugged off. "Wait, don't tell me...it's is the old 'make her jealous' routine eh? Nice work." Hadrian says, apparently putting two things together in his mind while at the same time playfully punching the other guy on the shoulders in a boxer-like stance.

"NO. I mean yeah she's nice, pretty, and all that but she's way too edgy for me. Besides, apparently she's been corresponding with Fishlegs for a long time now." Hiccup corrects his sworn brother while chuckling himself a little.

"Fishlegs...we're talking about the same Fishlegs Ingerman right? Local bookworm and all?" Hadrian wonders; suddenly stopping from his playful punches on Hiccup. Hiccup simply nods his head.

"Yup. Apparently Heather's got a thing for big softies." Hiccup says then chuckles. "Who knew. No wonder he stopped fawning over Ruffnut ever since I got back. She approached me with a letter she wants to be delivered to Fishlegs. Its way faster that way than having the letter be delivered by Trader Johann."

"Oh. Wow. I didn't expect that. I've got nothing on Fishlegs and all, but he seems to be the type to be too busy reading to ever get any attention or focus his attention for any girl." Hadrian says...surprised at both revelations; his first impression of the Ingermann was that of someone wholeheartedly immersed in scholarly pursuits (quite a rare thing in Vikings as he has observed) and is too busy to devote himself to someone in a romantic manner; second is that someone like Fishlegs is actually attracted to someone so strange as Ruffnut.

"Then again I haven't been here long. I should get to know more about your guys here." the Roman finally remarks.

Hiccup simply gives a small smile, but then frowns remembering the events from last week. "You know what was insulting; I was all day out there talking to everyone and all, and whenever I try to get close to her to try to work things out as you say, she simply ditches me off. Its like I killed her family or something. The only time she actually talked to me there was when we were leaving the Isles and she said, 'Get ready. We're leaving'.", he says sadly.

"You know, really. Before all this, there was a time when we actually get along quite well..before all this 'growing up to be a Viking stuff'….anyway...seems nothing changed between us. Not six years ago when I left Berk, and certainly not since I returned." Hiccup finally adds as he continues on his work.

With that the two resumed their activities for the morning. Hadrian wanted to say more to console the younger man but he decides to leave it at that for now. With that Hadrian decides to leave the forge silently, leaving Hiccup to be consumed in his work

' _You've waited for a long time for this Hiccup.'_ the Roman says in his mind as he solemnly looks at his sworn brother.

" _Bùyào fàngqì_ _."_ Hadrian whispers before completely leaving the smithy, making sure that Hiccup didn't hear him say those words.

* * *

A/N:

So this is my first attempt at writing a fanfic from the How To Train Your Dragon Franchise (Who am I kidding, this is my first attempt to write a fanfic). This story is a threeshot which is part of a series that I'm planning to work on in the future. In my story, Hiccup goes on an 'extended vacation' from Berk at the age of 15 just right after the Night Fury fiasco happened in canon. He returns later when he reaches 21. He travels to mainland Europe where he meets and befriends my OC Hadrian, a 'Roman' (actually he's from Constantinople but during those times, people from the Byzantine Empire were also referred to as Romans as it was after all the Eastern Roman Empire); and Kakunoshin Ni'itsu (Fujiwara Ni'itsu), a ronin who is Hadrian's swordmaster. The old rounin takes Hiccup under his wing as a second apprentice. The three would travel across Europe and Asia involving themselves in odd and lighthearted misadventures until the time Ni'itsu dies of old age and Hiccup finally returns to Berk. This is where our story begins.

*Some other differences from the canon:

 _a. Stoick doesn't go searching for the Nest after the raid during the canon of the first movie...Berk still makes it through winter obviously._

 _b. Dragon training begins when they turn 18. Hiccup having left three years prior doesn't undergo dragon training. (Much like every other fanfics, Astrid obviously gets to kill the Nightmare...a shame I've always liked Hookfang)_

 _c. Heather is Oswald's heir. Dagur does not exist in this story. She meets the rest of the Berkian teens three years before Hiccup returns to Berk. Also unlike Dagur from the OTL who Hiccup knew as a kid, Heather and Hiccup never met before, despite that the fact that the Hairy Hooligans and the Berserkers are allies._

 _d. Valka stays dead. Sorry guys. Good thing is that she doesn't die of a dragon raid. She just dies of an incurable disease._


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the second chapter guys. Hope you'd like it.**

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 **DISLAIMER: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon. Rights belong to Cressida Cowell and Dreamworks.** ** _The Forge, Hiccup's Working Station_**

If Hiccup were to be asked what his favorite time of the day is, it would be afternoons. Gobber is a morning person who would prefer that work in the forge be done and finished before noon. While this translates into very busy mornings; this would also reward both master and apprentice with less work in the afternoon. Plenty of time for rest for the duo or on Hiccup's case, more time for him to work on his personal projects. Usually, after the mornings, Gobber usually leaves the smithy for him to manage. _'Part of his training'_ as how Gobber would always say, but if Hiccup were to be asked, its more of leaving him to watch over the forge while the one-legged, one-armed man goes off to goodness knows where.

For this afternoon, Gobber has decided to leave with his father and a few more men on a hunting trip. They won't be back till tomorrow morning. Hadrian has since then left him as well earlier to do his work right after their conversation.

Hiccup for now is busy sketching a design for a new sword he plans to work on in the future. Unlike most sword designs on Berk which either was based on the longsword, broadsword, or claymore; this one is rather different. Nor was it similar to the katana, the type of sword his late master and Hadrian favors heavily. The sword he plans to work on would be a straight sword, thinner, lighter, and while there is some room for slashing; with its rather long, tapering blade, this would be designed primarily for thrusting in between areas of the body not protected by the bone or armor.

"Gobber? Hiccup? Is anyone here?" a familiar voice breaks Hiccup from his musings. _'Astrid Hofferson. Just great. God must be punishing me or something.'_ Hiccup thinks to himself. Truth be told, due to the rather "offish" way she treated him on their last excursion, Hiccup was in no mind to deal with her so soon. Hence for the entirety of the week, he has made considerable effort to avoid her at all cost. Nonetheless, with her being here, Hiccup turns to attention to greet the young woman.

"Yes. Can I do something for you, Astrid?" Hiccup says as he makes his presence known to the blonde woman with a certain degree of caution both in his movements and voice.

"I need this sharpened." she says to him as she abruptly hands him the axe she brought with him. "Be careful with that, I got it from the chief three years ago." she reminds him in a rather distant tone. Hiccup mentally sighs at the remark, insulted by how the shieldmaiden talked to him. Nonetheless, Hiccup receives the axe and does what was asked of him. If anything, Astrid would probably just leave him to his work and come back a bit later once he was finished. She's done so with him in the past. It would work better for him this way after all.

To Hiccup's surprise, instead of leaving, Astrid simply takes a seat in one of the available chairs in the place intended for the clients of the smithy. Hiccup approaches the grinding wheel and does his work, pretending that the young woman was not there. A rather awkward silence on the forge envelops the young couple, only broken by the friction between the axe blade and the grinding wheel.

With no intention to break Hiccup from his work, Astrid wanders around the forge looking for anything that may catch her attention. Her eyes are led to a rather strange, crossbow-like weapon (she assumes it was such). She decides to approach it. Upon further inspection she sees that its design was different from usual crossbows seen on Berk or anywhere in the Archipelago. While not much fan of projectile weapons herself, Astrid was no stranger to crossbows, being familiarized with its design as part of her basic training. Crossbows were not really popular weapons for Vikings. _'A coward's weapon'_. That's how Aster describes it; something she agreed on as well. It requires no skill and training, unlike when using a bow and arrow. Besides, it was way faster to reload using a bow and an arrow than it was reloading a crossbow. With meticulous eyes, Astrid judges the rather strange contraption. The "crossbow" lying in front of her has some sort of a rectangular shaped stock on top to where a bolt is usually loaded in an ordinary crossbow. Another difference that she notes was that in place of a trigger on the underside was a lever on the top to which, she presumes, is the firing mechanism. As she slowly reaches her hand to the crossbow, a voice suddenly interrupts her.

"Please don't touch that. I haven't tested it yet." Hiccup says nonchalantly while seemingly not peeling his eyes away from his work.

Astrid turns her head to the blacksmith apprentice and asks, "Well, what is it?" She tries her hand at touching it but was stopped by the sound of the young man clearing his throat, sending a clear non-verbal message to her that he doesn't want her touching the thing anytime soon.

"What? Never seen a crossbow before?" Hiccup replies in a rather nonchalant, uninterested manner while still continuing on his work, never setting his eyes on the blonde.

Astrid felt somewhat insulted by what Hiccup said, or rather by how Hiccup said it.

"What did you just _say_ ", Astrid says in a dangerously low, annoyed tone. Fuming, she saw Hiccup who at this point not spared a glance at her; instead focusing his attention on the axe.

 _'That came out wrong.'_ Hiccup realized once he looked at her. While to some degree, he was still hurt by how Astrid has been treating him and her earlier comments were of no help either, he was taught better than to actually act horrible to someone.

"Sorry. Its not like you guys actually use one; not exactly first choice weaponry for Vikings if I rememberhe said to the young shieldmaiden accompanied by an apologetic grin. 'Hope she buys it.' his inner voice screams, fearing he might have made things worse with her.

"Oh." Astrid replies, her facial features gradually softening. "So what is it? I mean it does seem like a crossbow; but I've never seen anything like it." she adds.

 _'Pinch me. I must be dreaming.'_ Hiccup sarcastically says in his mind, surprised that Astrid was talking at him and was actually…..civil? Pushing out such thoughts in his mind, he began to formulate words in his head to reply at the blonde's query.

"Its a _Zhugenu.*_ Or atleast a working replica of it." he finally says.

"Chuke..what?" Astrid asks, confused at the foreign term.

"The _Zhugenu*_. It's a repeating crossbow. Something I picked up when I went to Song*." he replies.

Already finished his work, he leaves his station and goes to the shieldmaiden and returns her the axe. Astrid receives the axe; inspecting his work and finding it acceptable, she gives him an approving nod. Continuing with their previous conversation, she prods on to the topic.

"Repeating...crossbow?"

"Yes. Basically, you press on that lever…" he says as he comes closer to Astrid's spot and focuses on the crossbow lying near her, eagerly explaining to her its mechanism. He takes the crossbow in his hands demonstrating to her the proper way of handling and using it. To his surprise, Astrid seems to be an eager and attentive listener.

"So basically the lever serves both as a means to reload and fire this thing?" Astrid asks the young man for clarification as she toys with the machine when Hiccup handed it to her a while ago.

"Yes." Hiccup responds eagerly while nodding. "The double action mechanism of the lever and the 10 round capacity of the magazine makes it a way faster than an ordinary crossbow. Hell even a bow and arrow."

"Say how fast?"

"If I estimated correctly if this thing is working as how I'd intend it to be, you'd be able to shoot at least…..six to eight bolts with the time it takes you to shoot two with an ordinary crossbow. Also this one is way easier and simpler to use than a bow and arrow. Even a child could fire one of this. Although this one isn't really very accurate or powerful…but we're aiming for firing more shots per minute here."

"Impressive." Astrid says with an approving look as she returns the gadget back to the young man who sets the crossbow down back to the table. "So why haven't you tested it yet? Something like that would come in handy in the future."

"Well about that…I haven't made bolts yet. I've just placed a large order for fletches from Trader Johann a few days ago and he said he'd need atleast a few weeks to fulfill my order." Hiccup says, scratching his head with a sheepish smile on his face. "Also, I'll be using Nadder spines as arrow tips, and Gobber hasn't exactly found time to procure them for me."

Astrid simply nods to him.

"Oh no. It's almost time." Hiccup suddenly says suddenly remembering what time it was. He turns his back to Astrid, busily arranging the equipment around the forge. As he does so, he notices she has yet to leave. Knowing that dismissing her would be rude, he decides to leave her be. She is after all Astrid Hofferson. He trusts her to be responsible enough not make any mess like what he feared the twins or Snotlout might do when left alone in the place.

"Well its closing time. If you want to look around, feel free to do so." Hiccup says as he returns the haphazardly lying equipment around the working area back in their proper places. "Just lock the forge before you leave. I'll leave the keys to you and you can leave them at my room." he adds as he skillfully tosses the keys to Astid which she catches. Being Stoick's de facto heir and his...betrothed gave Astrid certain leeway. One of which is a virtually unrestricted access to the Haddock household, and Hiccup's room by extension.

"Hiccup…" Astrid says softly, but Hiccup who was too busy with his work did not hear her. Just when she was about to insist her point by calling the young man once more, a new voice suddenly enters the smithy.

"Oi _baka deshi*_ , its time." the rather condescending voice of Hadrian comes in with its owner absentmindedly entering the forge. The Roman fails to notice the presence of one Astrid Hofferson standing in one corner.

Hiccup turns his head around and glares at the Roman. Hadrian who catches Hiccup's eyes raises his eyebrows. At that point Hiccup simply turns his head to a side as a signal which Hadrian understands as he turns his head around and sees the blonde shieldmaiden looking at him.

"Oh. Hey Astrid- _chan_." the Roman greets Astrid rather too cheerfully. He simply approaches Hiccup and lends the young man a hand. "Here let me help."

"You two are practicing for what?" Astrid asks in a voice clearly demanding for answers, irritation for being interrupted earlier was evident in her tone. Hiccup and Hadrian simply look nervously look each other thinking of a way to worm their way out of this. A mischievous gleam forms in Hadrian's eyes.; something that really worries Hiccup.

"A singing performance." Hadrian "Your boy here has a small surprise number for you tomorrow night on your birthday party." he also adds while tapping on the younger man's right shoulder with his own left. Hiccup simply mutters an incorrigible babble clearly indicating disbelief and irritation at what the Roman said.

"O….kay. You two aren't hiding anything, are you?" Astrid says suspiciously, neverminding the slight jab at her and Hiccup by the Roman.

"Nope.." Hiccup answers instantly.

"Even if we were, that's for us to know. And for you to find out." Hadrian adds says in a rather sassy manner. At that point he decided to drag Hiccup by his shirt. "See ya".

Hiccup simply gave Astrid an apologetic smile as he was being dragged. A small part of him was worried by how Hadrian answered Astrid. He always knew how Astrid could be rather…volatile to those who would try to play an attitude towards her. He was witness to how she decked his cousin Snotlout and many others who pulled something like that to her. It wasn't that he was actually worried about what Astrid might do to Hadrian. Far from it really. If anything, he should be more worried about Astrid. Its just that he's not looking forward to trouble or more conflicts with her any time soon.

Before totally losing sight of her though, he reminds her, "The keys. Just put them on the table in my room."

There, Astrid was left alone in the smithy with a surprised look on her face.

 ** _Outskirts of Berk_**

As Hadrian and Hiccup were walking along the streets of Berk on the way to the woods for Hiccup's sword training lessons, Hiccup scolds his sworn brother.

"Seriously, did you really have to tell you about that? And what's with that attitude. Are you trying to piss her off?" Hiccup says, annoyed at Hadrian.

"Hey, its not like we have a better excuse." Hadrian replies while shrugging his shoulders (and purposefully dodging the second part). "Besides, this whole singing though was originally your father's idea. "

"Wait. Dad's idea? The singing thing? How?" Hiccup asks in sure was still surprise. In an instant, he "forgot" the fact that he was upset with Hadrian's snarky remark towards the blonde shieldmaiden earlier.

"Remember that time in Arendelle? I might have told him about it this morning. You left too early, didn't even eat breakfast." Hadrian says sheepishly.

Hiccup remembered that time when he was 19. The two of them landed a job as singers in a pub when they landed in small country. Despite the dislike to perform in public, they needed a job. After all, they were payed generously by the owner and well-liked by the patrons that they received got quite a reputation. At one of their performances, a quite strikingly beautiful, pale blonde-haired lady with equally pale complexion who introduced herself as Sael, a noblewoman working for the royal court. She watched them perform, personally congratulated them when they were finished, visited them backstage, and asked if they'd be willing perform for the wedding of her sister; promising to pay them handsomely. Sadly the said wedding would take place the year after, which they could not wait, thus they respectfully declined.

Despite declining the generous offer, he did accept a request for the lady to teach her how to play a song of his own composing which was based from a children's tale from the said country.

And Hadrian and their teacher never let go of the fact that Sael kissed him on the cheek as they said their farewells to each other. Those two teased him for months because of it.

"Wait don't tell me…" Hiccup said, a hastily drawn conclusion forming inside his head.

"Not really. He just wanted us to sing to liven things up. Make it less Vikingly. Wonder what that means though. You singing to your lady love WAS my idea." Hadrian says, emphasizing on the word, was.

The other part which was Stoick's idea was something Hiccup could understand. Village-wide Viking parties for adults, as festive as they may come are always riddled with drunken fests and more than 75% would end up in an all-out, free-for-all brawl. That party for his father's birthday he was dragged into when he was thirteen permanently scarred his brain. It was a miracle nobody died nor permanently injured despite people already starting hitting each other with stools or slamming the opposing man on tables. Luckily Stoick had wisely prohibited anyone from bringing in weapons in the Great Hall. Almost every adult then spent the next morning fixing the damages from the previous night; along with a nasty case of a hangover. Then again, they were Vikings. Not exactly the most mellow people on this side of the planet, far from it actually. The Viking chieftain probably thought that music or two would help mellow people down not to cause any major damage.

"Fine. I'll do it." Hiccup says, finally conceding to Hadrian and his father's idea. "But don't think I'm doing this alone. You're going with me." he adds.

"Sure." Hadrian agrees enthusiastically. "Besides, looks like you've made a breakthrough with her. I mean she looks like she was actually talking to you."

"No. Not really. She was just interested on the Zhugenu. No need to look too deep into that." the younger man says dismissing the older man's conclusion.

 ** _The Cove, Berk Island Forest_**

After a few minutes more of walking they finally arrived into the woods, into the secret cove that is their training area, the sun already close to settling down and night closing in.

Hadrian scans the area as if looking for something or someone, "Hmm. Looks like he's not coming in for the night. Wonder why?" he asks the younger man.

"Probably still hunting I guess. Its not like the first time he didn't." Hiccup answers.

"Maybe." Hadrian agrees, shifting the conversation, he starts to talk in a teasing tone, "So any plans on what'll you be singing for your lady love, eh?"

"Will you stop that seriously!? She's not my lady love." Hiccup replies, getting annoyed with the Roman's antics.

"Yet. Right?" Hadrian interjected.

Hiccup pretended not hearing that one. He continued on, "To answer your question though...I'm not really sure yet. I thought one of sensei's songs...but most of them are in Japanese. They'd ask me for a translation sooner or later. Too troublesome."

"Well, what about one of your songs?"

Hiccup simply looked blankly at the older man.

"Just a suggestion. I mean you're songs are really good." Hadrian says.

Hiccup closed his eyes to think for a while then he replies to the Roman, "I'll think about it."

"Well, don't worry. You've still got time to think" Hadrian replies then he offers a small grin to Hiccup.

"Come. You still haven't figured out the trick to the _Shiden blade_ *. We still have to remedy that." Hadrian says as his face and voice turns serious and stern. Hadrian then picks up one of the overlying bokken on one of the stands in the cove that serves as their training grounds and secret hiding place.

Hiccup picks up a bokken of his own. This change in the demeanor of the Roman reminds the young blacksmith apprentice that the man standing before him was not just Hadrian, his sworn brother; but rather Hadrian Alexius Mu, one of the most if not already the most formidable swordsman in Europe and Asia and perhaps the best swordsman to set foot in the Archipelago right now…

With that, Hiccup lunges towards the Roman, thus the training commences

* * *

 ***Zhugenu (Zhuge Liang's crossbow)** \- it is a repeating crossbow from China. Originally attributed to Zhuge Lian, a scholar/inventor/politician/strategist during the Three Kingdoms period. Although they did say it existed way back to the Warring States Period. Not really an A for accuracy or penetrating power but loads and shoots way faster than an ordinary cossbow of the time. (A/N: I'm not really that much of an expert on this one since I'm not a History major, despite my rather enormous appetite for it, so my knowledge to it is limited to what I've watched from a few documentaries)

 ***Song** \- refers to China. If we look at the time tables, the Age of the Vikings coincide with the Song dynasty of China at the time.

 ***Baka-deshi** \- its a Japanese term which means "dumb apprentice". It is populary used by the character Hiko Seijuro from Rurouni Kenshin, whom I based most of Hadrian's mannerisms and attitude. Also, the fact that Hadrian is the best fighter in the story is based on the status of Hiko Seijuro as the best fighter in the RK-verse.

 ***Shiden Blade** \- is a move used by a filler character from Rurouni Kenshin named Heihachirou Sasaki who is a master of the Hino Haiito style.


	3. Chapter 3

**Third chapter is up. Enjoy guys.**

 **DISLAIMER: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon. Rights belong to Cressida Cowell and Dreamworks.**

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She wants to scream out to the heavens. Filled with frustration, she absentmindedly kicked a lying rock on the road while walking on the way to her house. _'_ _ _I should've just apologized immediately instead of beating around the bush.'__ Astrid said to herself. Her long-time friend, Heather's words days ago echoes once again to her.

 ** _ _Flashback: Docks, Shivering Shores__**

 _"_ _ _You know, I never expected you'd be that mean to somebody." the black-haired heiress of the Berserker tribe says as she approaches Astrid while she and Astrid looks to the figure of Hiccup busily exchanging a few words to the Bog Burglar heiress and the newly-instated Chief of the Meatheads Tribe by the docks.__

 _"_ _ _What? How can you say that?" Astrid replies surprised by Heather's words; turning her focus on her bestfriend.__

 _"_ _ _Seriously? You avoid him like a plague. Every__ _ _time he comes__ _ _a few inches close to__ _ _you, you look like you'd want to strangle him. You haven't said a word to him ever since you guys have been here, and the only thing you said was 'Get ready. We're leaving' which I might remind you were said in a not so friendly tone." Heather answers her in a scolding-like manner. "I know you love exuding the whole 'tough girl' aura Astrid, but I don't really think you'd actually be__ _ _that__ _ _cold to somebody."__

 _ _Rendered speechless from Heather's words simply replies to Heather in silence.__

 _ _Heather simply sighs bef__ _ _o__ _ _re saying, "Look, I know you're not looking forward to this whole engagement thing." Astrid simply glares at the green-eyed heiress but Heather simply shrugs it off ; continuing on with her little speech "But its unfair if you take it out all on Hiccup. Its not even his fault."__

 _"_ _ _I know." Astrid finally admits. "Its just that…you know I've always put my best into becoming the__ _ _kind of__ _ _Viking__ _ _everyone looks up to__ _ _. I've trained hard. I fought hard against raids from both Dragons__ _ _,__ _ _Vikings__ _ _, and others__ _ _." Heather simply stares silently at Astrid, urging her to continue. "Since I was ten, Heather. I struggled to be someone my people can be proud of. What about him? Hiccup is…oh..you know him. He's like the walking contradiction of our culture."__

 _"_ _ _Doesn't necessarily mean he's a bad guy, Ast." Heather replies. "Its not like you guys are complete strangers to each other. You guys did grew up together.__ _ _Its not like he did something to hurt you like someone__ _ _ **else**__ _ _did. He wasn't around for what..five? Six years?__ _ _"__

 _ _"__ _ _THAT'S EXACTLY WHY, HEATHER.__ _ _ **HE LEFT**__ _ _" Astrid replies, now blurting out long-held hidden resentments.__ _ _"__ _ _While everyone else in our age trained and fought for our lives; bled, got wounded, almost got burned, mauled, or even died, he spent a good time of his life goofing off to Odin-knows-where on the mainland and beyond.__ _ _While everyone else stay__ _ _ed,__ _ _fought__ _ _, and trained;__ _ _ **he**__ _ _ran away."__

 _ _A short pause envelopes the two friends. Heather's question breaks that moment of silence.__

 _"_ _ _Do you know why he ran away Astrid?"__

 _"_ ** _YES_** _ _. He chose to be a coward. He never could fit in with any of us. He couldn't throw an axe. He can't lift a hammer properly. Dark Spirits from Helheim, he couldn't even throw a bola without getting tanged in it himself….but…but…" Astrid pauses to catch her breath. "He shouldn't have left us. He shouldn't have given up. Sooner or later, something would've worked out for him. Leaving… it's__ _ _just not right__ _ _."__

 _ _Heather simply looks deeply into Astrid's eyes with soft eyes. "So, why do you think he__ _ _went back__ _ _? Heather finally says.__

 _"_ _ _What?" a surprised Astrid replies.__

 _"_ _ _You heard me Astrid. Why did he return?" Heather answers. "From what he told me, he seemed well-adjusted in the life in the mainland. He could've lived a comfortable life anywhere else__ _ _, but he chose to come back.__ _ _Don't you think that warrants a little consideration on your part?"__

 _ _Astrid simply replies with silence, Heather's words slowly sinking into her head.. "Look. Give him a chance he seems to be a nice guy despite not being all 'Vikingly'." Heather says while patting Astrid on the shoulder.__

 _"_ _ _Something in me says he just might surprise you. The good kind, of course." the black heiress says. "Besides," Heather gives a soft chuckle before adding, "he's kinda cute…I'll be on Berk in time for your birthday. See you Astrid" she finishes but not before pulling the blonde shieldmaiden in a friendly hug after her final statement.__

 _ _The two then proceeded to board their respective ships. There, Astrid finds Hiccup and everybody else on their party already on their ship, The Fury already waiting for her.__

 _ _Flashback End__

The rest of the trip back to Berk was rather uneventful; with a rather strange reversal of roles. To some extent, Hiccup generally avoided her instead of her avoiding him. Well, he generally avoided everyone and mostly kept to himself. Aside from during meal times, Hiccup rarely interacted with the crew. He spent most of his time either sleeping or reading the books he brought with him. She, on the other hand was busy learning and mastering the ropes when it comes to navigating and sailing; skills which according to Stoick every Viking should know and every good chief needs to be an expert of. Thus most of her time was spent listening to lessons given by Stoick or some of the more experienced crew members, taking notes of various techniques taught to her.

At some point, Stoick also called out to Hiccup saying even _he_ needed to learn a few tricks even if he is not expected to take the mantle of chiefhood. Seafaring is afterall an important basic skill for any Viking (or anyone for that matter). Hiccup shocked everyone by sharing his own knowledge and rather more…revolutionary techniques that he learned from his travels. He even eagerly shared a few ship designs and concepts he picked up both from Europe and Asia during his time away. Something called a turtle ship* particularly caught Stoick's interest. Apparently the concept was the brainchild of an inventor by the name of Yi Seong-sil* whom Hiccup befriended during his time in Goryeo* on the way to Japan. Nobody bothered with Hiccup during the duration of the travel after that clear display of knowledge.

Upon their return to Berk, Astrid deeply evaluated the relationship between her and the young wanderer. Her previous sentiments and grudges about Hiccup leaving Berk were replaced by some form of understanding thanks to a few words from Heather. She realized none of Hiccup's actions truly warranted her treating him like he was an Outcast. She wanted to make up to him, to make things work between the two of them. There was a time when they were close before but they grew up and all of a sudden, they drifted apart. She wanted that to return. Especially since they are to be wed only a few months from now. A plan to ask Hiccup for apology formed inside her head. One which would involve nobody else but them.

However for the past few days, Hiccup seemed rather elusive to her. If he was trying to avoid her, he was doing a really great job at it. Hiccup was mostly busy with work in the forge; and in between her time of personal training, semi-chiefing duties, and preparing the incoming batch of students for Dragon Training there was not much time for a proper conversation exclusively between the two of them. She had it in mind to talk to him after his work but apparently, he spends most of his time after the forge with the newly-arrived Roman into the woods only to return in the later parts of the evening. She once tried to follow them; only to loose them when they walked in the deeper parts of the forest. In a manner; she became suspicious of their activities. She once asked Stoick about it but he simply laughed it off and assured her they were not doing anything remotely sinister or strange* that might warrant any form of attention from her or anyone from Berk.

A window of opportunity came to her this morning when she heard Stoick would be leaving this afternoon for a hunting trip and Gobber will be joining him. It meant Hiccup would be having the forge to himself. Spitelout has also took over most of the "chiefing" chores left, as she was to be part of the night patrol this evening. __"Take a break, lass. You'll be needing it for tonight."__ was what the Jorgenson patriarch advised to her.

She rushed into the forge in the afternoon after her time with the incoming Dragon Training recruits. Using the axe given to her by the chief a day before her final exam as an excuse claiming it ' _needed to be sharpened',_ she hoped to initiate some small talk between her and her betrothed to find some common ground between them, then she would apologize. At first, she was rather reluctant. As much as she wanted to initiate a conversation, she feared Hiccup might accidentally damage the axe should he loose concentration. Thus for a time, she left him to his work. However, the moment that foreign contraption caught her eye, the small talk she wanted was initiated either way. For a time, she was misdirected due to her curiosity. Also, the fact that she found talking with Hiccup to be rather engaging did not help either. Before she knew it, time has passed too suddenly and the opportunity gone with Hiccup already leaving for the day.

By the time she realized she was lost in her musings, she was already in front of the doorsteps of her home. She enters and proceeded to climb all the way to her room, setting down her newly-fixed axe to a nearby wall.

 _'_ _ _Maybe some time tomorrow night. He will be performing in the party after all.__ _ _I just hope__ _ _we can find some time together with just ourselves.'__ she says to herself while removing her trademark spiked shoulder guards and shoes. She then climbs towards her bed for the much needed sleep. __'Please. Just give me this chance. I promise, I'll be nicer to him.'__ she prays to the Norns* before finally drifting into sleep.

 _ _ **Timeskip: A few hours later, Berk Island Forest**__

With sword training already finished earlier on, Hiccup was walking out of the Haddock residence after getting his lute, back into the woods for some much needed practice for tomorrow's performance. Hadrian stayed in the cove, opting to sleep in the area finding it too troublesome to return to the Haddock cottage; after all nobody would be waiting for them to turn in for the night with his dad away from the village until tomorrow morning. Their 'other guest' also turned in for the night although it was rather much late than he usually does. At first Hiccup wanted to practice either inside the confines of his room or back in the cove; however fearing he might disturb anybody in the little town or those two sleeping in their hideout, he decided to practice in another portion of the forest. After all the moon is shining quite brightly tonight and he could always start a fire if he needs to.

Before he could go his way, a voice stops him in his tracks.

"Hiccup? What are you doing here?" the voice calls him to attention. He almost drops his lute in surprise upon hearing the much recognizable voice from out of nowhere.

He turns around to see the owner of the said voice. The beautiful face of Astrid Hofferson illuminated by the moonlight greets and mesmerizes him; apparently nobody told him she'd be on patrol this evening.

 _ _'Maybe I should start looking into who is part of the night patrols every evening.'__ was what one part his brain is saying. The other part could not help but admire how the moonlight seemed to highlight her features, especially those hauntingly blue eyes, making them seem almost ethereal in his mind.

If Hadrian was here, he'd probably tease him to kingdom come. This looks like a scene from one of those crappy romantic novel series that the Roman loves to read as a hobby.

* * *

 ***Turtle ship** \- a heavily armored oar and sail-powered Korean warship, also referred to as the **Geobukseon**. It was used by the Korean Navy during the Imjin Wars, although it was actually designed way back in the 1400s. It was used by the Koreans to ram into enemy ships, sinking them (although it did have cannons as well much like any other Korean warship of the time). For the sake of the story, lets just pretend it was conceptualized much earlier than in the original timeline. After all this story's 'version' of the ship did not include guns and was merely designed for ramming.

 ***Yi Seong-sil** \- is the story's reference to two famous people in Korean history. One would be Yi Sun-sin, a brilliant Korean admiral (my most favorite military commander in world history) whose daring exploits became a major factor in the eventual defeat of the Japanese during the Imjin War. The turtle ships were the trademark of Yi Sun-sin's fleet. The other person would be Jang Yeong-sil, a Korean scientist/inventor during the time of King Sejong.

 ***Goryeo -** ancient Korea. Much like how I referred to China as 'Song' in the previous chapter, Goryeo was the ruling dynasty of Korea at the time.

*In a manner, Stoick is aware of Hiccup's secret sword training. Although he doesn't know specifically where Hiccup and Hadrian trains, nor is he aware of the other 'guest' who comes in with the two every night. While he is aware that Hadrian is a good swordsman, he has no idea just how good.

 ***Norns -** the counterpart of the 'Fates' in Norse lore if I'm not mistaken.


	4. Chapter 4

**Fourth chapter is up guys. I hope you guys would enjoy it.**

 **DISLAIMER: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon. Rights belong to Cressida Cowell and Dreamworks.**

* * *

To a village like Berk which usually encounters dragon raids, evening patrols are essential to its survival. After all, dragon raids happen mostly during the evening. Despite being so, dragon raids are actually rare for this time of the year. Strangely, majority of dragon raids only happen during the last quarter of the year; just before Devastating Winter sets in. Why? Nobody has any idea. Even the greatest minds in the Archipelago cannot put two and two together. Study of dragons is considered to be dangerous, even for Vikings apparently. The only one to have done an extensive study on the subject was Bork the Bold. His studies and observation of dragons earned him a reputation not just among the dragon-fighting Vikings of the Archipelago but among academicians in the mainland Europe according to Hiccup.

However even his studies failed to give an explanation as to why. Even so, the residents of Berk, and the whole archipelago as a whole are grateful for this as this gives them ample time to recover from the damages and losses encountered during the raiding seasons. The fact that not only dragons raid Viking villages, but the existence of threats from pirates and rival Viking villages certainly does not diminish the importance of these patrols; even if dragon raids are unlikely to happen at this time of the year.

Astrid Hofferson, considered to be Berk's finest warrior of her time takes her duties, including the nightly patrols seriously. The quiet streets of Berk at the late hours of the evening is a huge contrast to the rambunctious streets that it is during the days. While conflicting, this is a welcome change to the blonde shieldmaiden. For the night, accompanying her are old friends, quite a rare occasion. Those who are with her for the night patrols are those who she took dragon training with; the Thornston twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut, Fishlegs Ingermann, and Snotlout Jorgenson. She had them split sectors to cover to make it faster. Each one of them, carrying a horn in order to warn the others if anything serious warrant their suspicion. The twins would be the one covering the immediate vicinity of the village; Snotlout covered the docks; while she covered the area near the path leading to the woods, wanting to get as far away from the annoying Jorgenson as much as possible. For Thor's sake, she's already engaged and yet Snotlout wouldn't stop trying to flirt with her. Fishlegs though opted to stay in the makeshift cottage for those in the nightly patrols to prepare a late evening meal for everyone.

While strolling, bringing her trusty axe with her, she sees a rather tall figure of a man carrying something with him walking towards the deeper parts of the forest. His clothing, appearance and whatever the man was carrying was obscured by the shadows from the trees. Curious as to who wold go into the woods at an hour this late, she went to come closer, following the man.

 **Astrid's P.O.V.**

'Who would go into the forest at this hour?' I asked myself while following whoever the man is. To be honest, he walks fast. Thank Ullrhe seemed not to notice me. At some point, he went to a part where there were less trees. Then, he suddenly came to a momentary halt. Thankfully the moon came in and set light to his location, and I suddenly recognize him. Only one man on the island wears a dark blue tunic with matching dark blue pants.

"Hiccup? What are you doing here?" I ask him.

With a lute in his hands, he turns to me with rather surprised eyes. __'Thank you.'__ I say, offering a small prayer to the gods and great spirits residing in Valhalla. I never truly expected this. Perhaps this was the opportunity the Norns have given me.

 **End of Astrid's P.O.V.**

For a moment no voice could be heard between the two would-be couples. One was earnestly waiting for a reply. The other one was busy trying to regain his mental (and emotional) faculties.

 **Hiccup's P.O.V.**

' _Okay. Keep it together Hiccup.'_ I say to myself. Dammit. Why does this happen to me? In the middle of the night. This is so wrong on so levels. Its as if I just became one of those characters in those romantic novels Hadrian reads. _My Teenage Romantic Saga Is Mistaken As I Always Expected*,_ was it? Nevermind. I better deal with her before I piss her off again since clearly she's waiting for me to answer her. At least, she's talking to me though. Better not mess this up, I guess.

"Hi Astrid. Hey Astrid…Yo Astrid...Hi..uh.. _ _Konbanwa__ *…?" I say (insert awkward grin here). I winced and mentally face-palmed. **That** was inconherent; even for old me. What in God's name possesed me to speak in Japanese? Or to greet someone as if he/she is just some street punk on Constantinople. I paused for a while. I lost myself there; she still has _that_ effect for me. Well at least she's not glaring at me or something close to it though. After a deep breath (and hopefully scrambling to regain my mental faculties), I started to talk again.

"Sorry. I mean good evening, Astrid." I finally say. That went smoother than expected. She didn't blow me off like last week.

She simply nodded as a non-verbal sign of acknowledging me.

"Night patrol, huh." I concluded. She simply replied with a small "yes".

"So what are you doing this late at night?" she asks me.

"Practicing...you know, for tomorrow." I instantly answered her. We can't have her getting suspicious of my nightly activities now, can we?

"Didn't you practice earlier? Besides isn't it a bit too late. Why didn't you just practice at your house." she says with a hand on the side of her waist and the other holding her axe putting it on her shoulder.

"Well, I..uh..didn't want to disturb Hadrian or anybody else for that matter. Sorry." I replied while awkwardly scratching my head. "So, who's with you in the patrol tonight." I asked, wanting to steer the conversation elsewhere before she gets suspicious.

"Well there's me, the Twins, Fishlegs, and Snotlout. Tonight's patrol is basically composed of everyone we grew up with." she answers me.

I mentally winced. Truth be told, there may have been a time when we all were so close. I did grow up with them. Then things changed and we started growing up; it was at that point, I realized I was different. Before I actually realized it, I was actually following a path different from them. At first, I resisted the truth in a silly hope that sooner or later I'd fit in; but when that thing that morning on that day happened, I realized I was already too different from them. Gobber's words to me before I left Berk six years suddenly crossed my mind, _'Well there's the Viking Way. Then there's your way.'_

(Personally I always try to erase the last part though. The first time I told that to Hadrian and _Sensei_ , they looked at me funny. Apparently the part which says _'And your way makes grown men..uncomfortable.'_ came to them at a different angle; one which I had trouble sleeping and had me doubting my sexuality for a long time.)

There are times when it crossed my mind that things would've been different if I wasn't so…different. A small part of me would always say that perhaps I could've walked the same path as the rest of them. Things would've been definitely simpler. But I guess simple doesn't equate with me; life has always been complicated with me, just how complicated my inventions have always been. Closing my eyes and looking back to the things I've seen, friends I've made, adventures...and misadventures, and people whom became family to me, I'd say being on a different path did pay off quite nicely. Even if it came at a high price of leaving everything to find my own way. After all, no other person from the Archipelago can boast he won against the Son of Heaven* on a race in the…well, heavens. I mentally chuckled at the intended pun.

I closed my eyes and offered a small smile to the winds that blew to our direction, thanking the Almighty for all…these. _ _'Yes, I just mentioned to all of me.'__

 **End of Hicccup's P.O.V.**

 **Astrid's P.O.V.**

"Is there something wrong Hiccup?" I asked him as I see him lost in his own thoughts again. Out of nowhere, he opened his eyes, and simply shook his head.

"Nah. I just remembered something when I was in Song?" Hiccup replied to me with a small grin.

I raised my eyebrow a little before saying, "You mind filling me in?"

"Err…maybe sometime in the future? I doubt you'd believe me even if I told you."

I raised an eyebrow to his remark. Is it something that's remotely impossible? I don't think its something as absurd as people riding dragons though. Anyway, if he's not telling me anytime sooner, then I won't press him. I don't want to get side-tracked again.

' _Its now or never, I guess.'_ I say to myself.

"Hiccup." I say softy. He looks to me with a slight surprise in his eyes. I take a deep breath, gathering my thoughts before letting them slip from my mouth.

"About last week, I want to…" before I was able to continue, a shouting voice suddenly interrupts me and gets both mine and Hiccup's attention. _'Oh come on! Not again'._ Of all the time and places Ruffnut could appear out of nowhere, she had to appear now.

"Astrid." Ruff calls me as she runs towards Hiccup and I. Once she approaches us, she stops for a while catching her breath, panting a little.

"Thank the gods. I finally found you." she says. "I've been looking all over the place for you." Ruff continues her ranting. After looking a while she looks at me and Hiccup strangely, "I'm…I'm not _interrupting_ anything, am I?" she asks with a hint of a teasing tone to it.

"N..no." I said stuttering a little. I sent a small glare towards her, but she simply raises an eyebrow as if trying to say to me, _'Really?'_.

"Not really…I think?" Hiccup adds with a small bewildered look at me. Was he trying to cover up for me or something?

Ruffnut simply looks at the two of us blankly. "Uhhhh, you two might want to sort it out on your own time." _'Ruff, this was our time.'_

"Anyway, Fish told me the food is almost ready. Everyone's already there. We're just waiting for you come on." she says. I nodded and started to follow Ruff, letting her lead the way.

Halfway, we noticed Hiccup going to another direction, yet again back into the forests. He was already a good distance away from us. Gods, this guy walks fast; _and quietly_ I might add. I wanted to go to him and drag him myself, but Ruff acted faster than I did. She immediately dashes towards him and catches up to him.

"Woah woah woah. Where do think you're going?" Ruffnut asks him as she grab him by the shoulder. In surprise, Hiccup yelps and turns around towards her then to me.

"Practicing. Why?" he replies. __'Gods, what is with this guy?'__

"Come on. You're going with us, Mister." Ruffnut tells him as she lock's Hiccup right arm with her left one and dragging him towards our direction. _ _'Ruff, isn't that a bit__ _ _too__ _ _close?'__

"Ruffnut, I must insist." He says trying to get away from Ruff's hold but with one hand, I'd say good luck with that. Seeing him struggle from Ruffnut…Heather was right. He is kind of cute… _ _'Wait, where did that come from?'__ Suddenly, something else crosses my mind.

 _'_ _I_ _ _s he trying to avoid us?__ _ _Me?__ _ _'__ I asked myself.

"Come on it would be fun. Everyone in the gang's there. Fishlegs probably prepared too much for everyone anyways." Ruffnut insists still trying to pull him towards our direction.

"Ruff, I'm not exactly part of _the_ gang. Besides, I'm not _in_ the night patrol _._ " Hiccup replies, still desperately trying to pry his locked arms from Ruff's as best as he could since the other one is still holding onto that lute of his.

Hearing those words, that's when I realized that I just got a glimpse of how Hiccup really is. Maybe there's a different side to him that I didn't get to see all these years. _ _'Maybe something did turn out after all__ _ _. Perhaps I might just get a glimpse of the wanderer that was Hiccup Haddock.__ _ _'__

"Astrid, help me out with this one will you." she adds, breaking me from my thoughts. Apparently, she's having difficulties with him. That's when I decided to intervene and approached the two.

"Hiccup, please. Just come with us? You can go practice in the cottage if you want. Nobody would mind. In fact, we'd love to enjoy your company." I pleaded to him as I held him by the wrist of his left arm, the one which was holding his lute. He looked bewildered. At the very least, he wasn't actively resisting anymore, Thank Thor. Seeing no further resistance from him, Ruffnut released him from her own lock.

I led him towards the village to the cottage where the night patrol stays . With Hiccup beside me, and Ruffnut behind the two of us, we made our way back.

" _Man! Who knew? That guy is a lot stronger than he appears."_ I heard Ruff saying in the background, apparently nursing her arm which she used to lock Hiccup with. Apparently Hiccup offered more resistance than Ruff expected. That was quite amusing to know though.

 **End of Astrid's P.O.V.**

 **Third Person P.O.V.**

Apparently Astrid forgot notice that she has yet to release her hand from Hiccup's wrist. Something Hiccup never realized himself as well. However unbestknown to the two, the one behind them is enjoying the scene that plays before her very eyes.

 _'_ _ _I am so going to have a lot of fun with this in the future. Wait till I tell Heather about this tomorrow.'__ Ruffnut thinks to herself with a mischievous grin on her face; unnoticed by the walking couple in front of her.

* * *

 ***My Teenage Romantic Saga is Mistaken As I Always Expected** \- It's actually my pun on the popular Japanese anime series/light novel, _My Teen Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected._ I really enjoyed the story; especially the main character, Hikigaya Hachiman. I hope someone would make an AU fanfic of HTTYD with Hiccup having a personality similar to that of Hachiman in the future. *winks

 ***Konbanwa -** means 'Good Evening' In Japanese.

 ***Son of Heaven -** The titular title of the Emperor of China. The Emperor of China in my fic is an OC who is a friend to both Hiccup and Hadrian.


	5. Chapter 5

**Fifth chapter is up guys. Almost there.**

 **DISLAIMER: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon. Rights belong to Cressida Cowell and Dreamworks.**

* * *

The walk back to the village was covered in silence. At some point, Hiccup and Astrid realized their predicament, thus putting things in a whole new level of awkwardness.

Astrid is also aware of the fact that a certain someone behind them is currently enjoying everything with front view seats. However, a good part of her brain refuses to let go of Hiccup, fearing he might try to run off again.

"You might want to let go of me Astrid. I won't run off. I promise." Hiccup whispers to her, careful not to let Ruffnut hear him. Astrid felt's as if he read her mind. Then again anyone with a brain could probably realize this.

Astrid simply raises an eyebrow towards him and answers, "I can't trust you to run off Hiccup. Its the dead of the night. Who knows what you'll run into. I can't risk that."

He answers her, "I won't run away Astrid. Besides don't worry about me hanging around in the woods, I can take care of myself."

Astrid simply stares at him and tightens her grip, giving him that scrutinizing look of her's he's been under in the past far too many times evertime he messes up something. He realizes he's not getting out of this one easily. Perhaps he should compromise because seriously, her grip is a little too tight and more than that it was getting _really_ awkward.

With a sigh, he tells her, "Look, if you want, here. Go, take my lute with you. I can't run away to practice without it anyway."

"Fine, but you're holding my axe. " Astrid answers as she agrees to the compromise.

With that, Astrid released her hold on the blacksmith apprentice's wrist. They then exchanged items. Now, Hiccup holds the shieldmaiden's axe while she holds his lute.

Astrid then walks a bit slower to a point where she is already behind Hiccup and beside Ruffnut. Hiccup stops for a while to see why she lagged behind. "Go on." she says to him. Hiccup simply nods and continues walking.

"Not a word to anybody in the cottage. _Got that?_ " Astrid whisphers to the Thorston female while sending glares for effect. Ruffnut simply nods. Despite Astrid's rather deadly glare, she simply continues on with carrying that mischievous grin on her face.

And so, the way back to the village continues.

 **Night Patrol Cottage, Berk**

The night was generally peaceful. Aside from the occasional Terrible Terrors roaming around which they chased of quickly, things were generally quiet in the village. The trio composed of Fishlegs, Snotlout, and Tuffnut were eagerly waiting for the girls to return . Snotlout was busy sharpening his axe with his , and Tuffnut was busy fawning over his axe which he calls _"Macey"._ Fishlegs on the other hand was stirring the pot over the the flames. For tonight, he prepared chicken soup mixed with yak milk. It was a recipe his mother would often prepare for him. One of the dishes that his companions enjoy whenever he prepares it for them.

Then again not many of them could actually cook. The twins are too unruly that it is considered too dangerous to leave them in the kitchen. Snotlout looks down on the subject; harshly pointing out that it was not a 'manly' thing to do.

Astrid, while far from the threat the twins are in the kitchen was an anomaly in her own right. Gobber's words a few weeks ago were the perfect description as to how bad her dishes were: __"I thought I'd never live to see a day that someone can be as bad as Valka when it comes to cooking. I hope the lad picked up on some cooking lessons on his travels. Because he__ _ _could really usSe need them__ _ _."__ One of the more...amusing unwritten rules on Berk aside from taking away all weapons away when trying to wake up Stoick was actually never let Astrid near the kitchen...nor cook for that matter. Many even joked of the misfortune both Haddock men shared. There was a reason why Stoick learned how to cook after all.

"Where could those two be? Fish is almost done...and I'm getting hungry." Snotlout suddenly says, stopping from what he is doing. This gets everyone's attention for a while.

"Maybe it took Ruff sometime to find Astrid. You know how Astrid could be. The forest is large after all. Chill man." Tuffnut replied to Snotlout. "Who's a good mace? Yes you are." the Thorston male then adds absentmindedly, now focusing his attention back to his mace again. With that the three nodded to each other as the continued on what each of them were doing.

After some time, Ruffnut enters the cottage and greets everyone. "Hey guys, guess who we brought with us?" she says excitedly after taking a seat beside her twin. Astrid follows her soon after holding a lute, much to the three guys' surprise. Then, the tall figure of Hiccup Haddock follows the blonde shieldmaiden. Both then took seats beside each other.

"Thank you." Hiccup says to Astrid once she handed his lute back to him and rests it on his lap. In return he returns her the axe she had him hold a while ago. Astrid returns his gestures with a nod.

A chuckle from Ruffnut catches everyone's attention. All eyes then dawned on her.

"Oh. Don't mind me." Ruffnut says.

"O…kay. So who let him in?" Snotlout suddenly blurts out. Those rather words earn him glare from Astrid.

"Sorry." Snotlout says, retracting his previous statement when he sees Astrid's facial expression.

"Hey Hiccup. Thanks for the letters by the way" Fishlegs then greets their newest comer and chimes in a few words out of gratitude for the letters handed out to him by Hiccup which were from Heather. "I didn't expect you to be up this late at night. Why?"

"Well Astrid found him in the forest. What he's doing there, I have no idea? Ask him..or maybe we should ask Astrid." Ruffnut suddenly says before Hiccup could say anything, the last part said in a rather teasing manner.

"Thank you, Ruffnut." Hiccup says sarcastically, annoyed that Ruffnut had to make things more..awkward.

"Oh you're welcome." Ruffnut said, missing the blatant sarcasm behind the blacksmith apprentice's words. "What were you doing in there anyway? The woods aren't exactly safe at this time of the night." she adds, both inquiring and scolding at the young man.

Hiccup looks at Astrid who has yet to speak a word. He was trying to get her consent; Astrid simply answers him with a nod.

"I was on my way to the forest to play with this.." Hiccup says pointing to the lute in his hands and strummed a few strings to an unfamiliar tune, "when Astrid saw me on the way to the forest. We talked a bit, then Ruffnut saw us and dragged me here."

Everybody else, Ruffnut included shifted their eyes to Astrid for confirmation. Astrid simply replied "That's about it."

"How could you do this to me, Astrid. I thought we had something special" Snotlout says, obviously trying to hit on the blonde shieldmaiden

 _ **Shlinck**_

A well-thrown knife barely scraped off the surface of Snotlout's helmet; courtesy of the Hofferson shut the Jorgenson up.

"Okay. Sorry." Snotlout says while paling. Said knife embedded itself deeply into the adjacent post by Snotlout's back.

 **Hiccup's POV**

I'm impressed. It seems Astrid picked up a few things when I was away. Quite a good throw. A bit amateur, but it is good..

"Nice throw." I complimented her out of nowhere.

"Thanks." Astrid replies with a small grin. Well, someone seems proud of herself. Surprisingly, Astrid has been civil and approachable for the past few hours. While it was surprising, this is way easier to deal with that angry, scowling Astrid.

 _"_ _ _Iiyo__ _."_ I said while waving around a hand in front of her. Everyone looks at me funny again, Astrid included. I facepalmed… _'Not again.'_ "Japanese, sorry. No Problem." I explained to everyone. Astrid simply nods her head in understanding; not like the first time I did it to her anyway.

A series of mumbles of __"Figures."__ _,_ _ _"Okay.", "Weirdo.", "Yep. Hiccup."__ where what I heard from Fishlegs, the Twins, and finally Snotlout.

For some reason, something crossed my mind. Maybe I should give Astrid a few tips.

"It's all in the wrist Astrid. Focus with the wrist, not the forearm." I whispered to her.

"What?" she asks me with that bewildered look on her face. It was really amusing to look at.

"Nothing. Something I picked up on the road." I answered her with as much of a detached tone to hide my amusement. Then, I started to shift the conversation elsewhere before she starts probing deeper.

"You're mom's recipe, right Fishlegs?" I asked Fishlegs who then turns his attention to me.

"Oh yes." Fishlegs answered me.

"Thought so."

Afterwards Fishlegs called everyone saying the meal was ready. I was about to leave, not wanting to disturb them but Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Astrid insisted I stay with them and share a few spoonfuls with them. The whole eating affair was nice, even if it was quiet; and Fishlegs did outdo himself with the food. At some point in between mouthfuls, everyone was complimenting him; myself included. I even offered to teach Fishlegs a few recipes I've picked up much to his delight.

 **End of Hiccup's POV**

After some time, everyone has finished eating the prepared meal. The utensils used were left to the sink to be washed the following day. Everyone formed a circle outside the cottage to share a few stories with each other; bathing themselves in the moonlight.

"You should've seen Astrid during Dragon Traning. She was so cool." Ruffnut shared, calling Hiccup's attention who was absentmindedly tuning his lute beside Astrid and Fishlegs while everyone else were chatting.

"Oh yeah. She was awesome in the final exam. Best shot at that Monstrous Nightmare I've ever seen. Took off its head with one shot." Tuffnut added excitedly. Everyone else nodded while Hiccup's fingers that were tuning his lute discreetly twitched. Fortunately, no one else noticed it happen.

"Oh yeah, you guys all went to Dragon Training together, right?" Hiccup replied amiably, effectively masking his discomfort from Thorston's words.

The twins both looked at each other before saying "Yeah." at the same time.

"At least you weren't there. Who knows what trouble you would've gotten us into." Snotlout said; not really meaning it as an insult but rather as a matter of fact.

Hearing that, Astrid snarled at the Jorgenson. "Snotlout.." she scolded him.

"Its okay, Astrid." Hiccup reassures her, calming the shieldmaiden with a small, forlorn smile. Hiccup already accepted it long ago. Had he stayed in Berk and went into Dragon Training, he would've gotten himself and everyone into too much trouble. Besides, at that point, he already knew he wasn't going to be a dragon slayer like the rest of them. Far from it in fact... _very far._

"You know, you didn't technically fail Dragon Training Hiccup. You just didn't take it." Fishlegs chimed in. "Astrid or your dad could pull a few strings for you to enter. You can enter this year with the incoming class. You might be a bit older but not _too_ old."

"I could help you prepare. I'm basically in-charge of this year's dragon training." Astrid added eagerly as well. Fishlegs' suggestion was quite a good one.

"Thanks for the idea but I can't, Fishlegs…Astrid; I have to focus on my work in the forge. Besides, its kind of awkward to be joining in with a couple of people younger than you." Hiccup replied. "Also, Dad wants me to start working on some new systems that could improve the village's defences before the dragon raids start hitting. Not to mention, he keeps hounding me on that turtle ship. He's been bugging me for a working scale model these past few days." Hiccup says with a chuckle. He was amused from his father's enthusiasm at the rather strange ship design. Deeper than that though, he wanted to avoid dragon training as much as possible. It would…complicate things.

Afterwards, Hiccup excused himself from his companions and sat a few good distances away from the five others, saying he needed to practice. The young man started to strum with strings of his instrument. On the opposite end, his companions who were once talking about how their respective days went at some point caught themselves listening to Hiccup play.

"Wow. He's good." Tuffnut said as he listens to Hiccup playing.

"Yeah. Totally awesome. Maybe we should start calling him Hiccup the Bard." Ruffnut jested.

"You I've never heard of this one though. Something he learned from his travels perhaps?" Fishlegs mentions to everyone, pointing out that the melody Hiccup is playing was rather new and sounded foreign.

Snotlout kept himself quiet, only listening to enjoy the music provided by his cousin. Hiccup really has gone a long way. It was hard to believe he turned out to be this cool guy whose seen the known world and beyond; not Viking-cool like them but still not bad at all. Trader Johann wasn't a Viking, but he was a cool guy after all. Of course he'd rather be dead than say it in Hiccup's face. After all the way they all drifted from each other for a long time would've made things awkward for all of them.

With that the five men and women of this evening's patrol simply enjoyed the music provided to them by their visitor.

At some point in between his songs, Astrid began to approach him. Seemingly lost in his playing, he doesn't notice her until he stopped to take a momentary break from playing. That was when she calls to him.

"That was nice." Astrid compliments him after he was finished. She takes a seat beside him and gives him a soft smile before asking "When did you start playing the lute?"

"When I turned 16 I guess. A few months after I left Berk." Hiccup replies rather automatically.

"Oh. Those songs…I've never heard of them. Some form of melody from the mainland?" she asks him.

"Well the style is oriental but what you heard are all originals." the young man answers her.

"You write your own songs?" she was rather surprised by it.

"Well _Sensei_ taught me how to play the lute. He said I needed a hobby aside from tinkering stuff and getting into trouble. Before I knew it, I was making songs of my own." Hiccup replies while chuckling.

"You're teacher's a musician? A bard perhaps." Astrid inquires. Hiccup and Hadrian rarely talk about their teacher. Most of the time, he was only mentioned in passing. She knew little of the man both her betrothed and their Roman guest always seem to speak of in reverence. From what she heard from Stoick, Hiccup's late teacher was from the Far East, and an old man around Gothi's age. The only thing she knew was he was named Ni'itsu and the duo referred to him as _s_ _ _ensei__ _,_ which means 'teacher'.

"In a manner. He was…multi-talented." Hiccup replies. _Fujiwara_ _Ni'itsu_ was many things. To some, a powerful swordsman; to others a gifted artist, musician, philosopher, and many more; but to Hiccup, Ni'itsu was one simple thing: a good man. An old man who took a young adolescent boy lost in life and gave that boy the means to find a way of his own, turning him into the man that he is now.

"I see." Astrid replies. For a time the two simply sat by each in silence.

"Well you know; he's always wanted to see Berk." Hiccup suddenly shares to Astrid. Astrid's eyes widened at the revelation. Seeing no words coming from her, Hiccup simply continues.

"I promised him that when the time comes that I was prepared to return, I'll bring him here."

"What?" Astrid asks her companion.

"He got sick. He was already old when I first met him. Before I or Hadrian could notice, he started to get weak due to old age. He was fairly old by the time I met him. Some time later, he became weak enough, he was already unfit to travel long. Then, Hadrian and I were alternating jobs and taking care of him. He finally passed away two months before I finally returned to Berk." Hiccup answers her.

"I'm sorry Hiccup." those were the only words Astrid could tell to him, out of respect for him and for the old man whose tale Hiccup is sharing with her right now.

"I owed him a lot, you know. He made me see a lot of things, wonderful things, taught me a lot about life and more, saved me more than a dozen times. Yet the one thing he asked of me, I couldn't fulfill." he says as he looks at her with a rather pained expression on his face.

"I'm sorry Hiccup. He was a good man." Astrid says sincerely. She did not know much about the man who in many ways raised Hiccup.

"More than you'll ever know Astrid. More than you'll ever know." Hiccup tells her. "He died peacefully in his sleep though. We had his body cremated and Hadrian brought his ashes back to Japan, his homeland as per his wishes. That's why Hadrian wasn't with me when I returned last month. This (tapping the lute in his hand) was his."

For a moment the the two simply sat in silence, enjoying the moon and the stars shining in the heavens.

The other four behind them have long left the couple, willing to leave Hiccup and Astrid some time to themselves. Well not entirely; Snotlout resisted at first, only to be dragged away by the annoyed twins and Fishlegs. Realizing nobody else was there, Astrid decides that this may perhaps be the best time.

"Hiccup." she calls him. Hiccup turns his attention to the woman beside her.

"About last week. I…I'm really sorry. I'm sorry for the way I treated you back in Shivering Shores; and for how I treated you ever since you came back." she apologized to him sincerely. This was it she said it. No hesitations at all. She was pouring her heart out for an apology which she hopes he'd accept.

For a while Hiccup only stares at Astrid. He simply looks at her, deliberating on his next choice of words. So this was where it all boils down to. The change in demeanor she's shown him for the past few hours. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't happy. For many days since he's been here, he longed for a change in the way of how Astrid treats him. Perhaps a chance that he's always wanted for even before he left Berk. There was one part of him however that keeps him from holding back.

Secrets.

Since he's returned, he's been harboring those secrets. Secrets that will change everything. Secrets that all started that morning six years ago before he left. Secrets that he know will one day change everything.

He's always feared for when that day happens…the repercussions and pain that come with those secrets

At least for now though, let him be selfish and enjoy it while it lasts.

He then answer her with a smile that he hopes hides the fears away. His face gradually softens. Then much to Astrid's surprise, he pats her gently on the head. Then, he offers a hand to her before saying, "Let's put that all behind us shall we? Friends?"

For a while Astrid thought she saw a pained look in the eyes of her companion, which was in total opposite of the expression that his face expresses. Nonetheless returns the gesture with a smile of her own and eagerly shakes his hand. "Friends then." she answers him.

For a while, a comfortable silence envelops the two. Astrid silently thanks the gods for opportunity given to her. A sense of fulfillment fills her. Not the type that fills the warrior blood in her, but rather the type that fills the human being in her. For once, she acted not as a warrior of Berk, but as a human person.

She breaks the silence by issuing one more question.

"Hiccup. Would you play again?" she asks him in a soft voice.

* * *

 **Responses:**

 **jimmix:** Last chapter was actually more of an experiment. Sorry about that.

 **CajunBear73:** That's cute. Whole of Berk trying to Blood Eagle Hiccup. Good luck with that. (rolls eyes)

 **NightStormPhoenix:** Thanks. I have no doubt that the modern version of Hiccup can easily pull a Hachiman Hikigaya; he just needs to level the sarcasm a bit and learn to be more cynical. Modern Astrid would be a perfect blend of Yukinoshita Yukino and Hayama Hayato; a foil while at the same time a potential love interest.


	6. Chapter 6

**And so, the sixth chapter. I hope you like it. Consider it my gift to everyone who read my fic this far.**

 **DISLAIMER: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon. Rights belong to Cressida Cowell and Dreamworks.**

 **Nor do I own the song, Futari no Kimochi.**

* * *

"Hiccup, would you play again?" she asks him.

"Anything particular in mind?" Hiccup asks her.

"Not really." she replied.

Hiccup simply nods and strums the strings of his lute. Before long, he starts singing in language that the blonde shieldmaiden has never heard before.

 _ _Chūn yòu lái rén yǐ qù fēng yān cán xīyáng wǎn__ _  
_ _ _yīnghuā kāi qǐngkè sàn língluàn__ _  
_ _ _nián guāng shì sháohuá luò fēi xù zhuǎn bùkān kàn__ _  
_ _ _lù mànmàn kōng mèng duàn língluàn__

 _ _dù wàng chuān bǐ'àn wàng bù diào rén chángtàn__ _  
_ _ _gǔjǐng xià yuèguāng sīniàn zhuāng mǎn__ _  
_ _ _yīng huābàn fēiguò fēng yōuyuàn shuǐ qīnghán__ _  
_ _ _lí shāng àn yóusī zhuǎn língluàn__

Despite the unfamiliarity of the language, Astrid recognizes the fact that it doesn't diminish its beauty. In fact, the foreign language adds an air of haunting mystery to the song as whole. As she watches, she sees how Hiccup simply continuously sings, seemingly lost in the haunting melody of the song.

 _ _dù wàng chuān bǐ'àn wàng bù diào rén chángtàn  
gǔjǐng xià yuèguāng sīniàn zhuāng mǎn  
yīng huābàn fēiguò fēng yōuyuàn shuǐ qīnghán  
lí shāng àn yóusī zhuǎn língluàn__

 _ _lí shāng àn yóusī zhuǎn….língluàn…..__

With that, Hiccup's singing ends. A few seconds later, so did his strumming.

"So, how was it?" he looks at her and asks not long after.

"It was nice." she compliments both the song and the singer. "So what's its called." She asks him.

"Well the title is __Futari no__ _ _Kimochi__ which is Japanese." He answers. Astrid looks at him with a raised eyebrow. "Funny thing really. The lyrics are actually written in Mandarin.*" He says before chuckling.

"Wait? What? How did that happen?" Astrid asks him in a rather confused tone.

"Haru- _ _nee__ happened actually." he answers.

"Haruknee _?"_ she repeats him words with a curious tone.

"No." he says while shaking his head while giving off a small smile. It seems that Astrid always seem to get lost when it comes to names. " _Haru-_ _ _nee__. Her real name's Fujiwara Haruno, Before you ask, in Japan the family name comes first. - _ _nee__ is the short version for the term _onee-san_ which means 'older sister'. Her nickname was Haru, thus the term Haru- _nee_. She's my teacher's grandniece. I met her in Japan when _sensei_ brought us there." he tells her.

"So what did she do? I mean with the song." now she was curious.

"Well __Futari no Kimochi__ originally it was just some tune with no lyrics on it. That was until she took a brush and started writing the lyrics down. She wrote the lyrics in Mandarin for some reason, saying it sounds better that way. She even was the one who named it _Futari no Kimochi._ " he says explaining the story behind it.

"You two must've been close, Haruno I mean." Astrid says.

"I always wanted an older sister. Haru- _ _nee__ was the closest one I got. Besides, she insisted I call her Haru- _ _nee__ _._ " Hiccup says. "Hadrian has…..feelings for her." he whispers out of nowhere.

"Huh?" Astrid tilted her head in an inquisitive look. He did not expect her to actually hear that. The story between them was quite a painful one for the Roman. If anything, Hiccup did not actually mean to let the story slip. It just happened. He might as well tell her some things about Hadrian.

"Haru- _nee._ Hadrian's always liked her." Hiccup answers her.

"So what happened between them?" Astrid then asks him.

"It's not my place to tell Astrid. All I can say would be that while he always held a place for her, she's always had eyes for someone else." Hiccup admits to her.

"So, mind translating to me what it means, the song I mean?" Astrid tells him, diverting the story to another direction upon noticing the growing awkwardness, as well as a sign of respect for the rather sassy Roman. Truthfully, she did not expect something like a story like that about the local potter.

Hiccup answers her with a rather nervous chuckle.

"What? You can speak the language, right?" Astrid asks him with a raised eyebrow. "Right?"

"No..not really. I can sing the ones written on the song just fine." Hiccup says then awkwardly laughs. "I can also understand the language just fine. But I'm not that really _that_ good yet to start translating it. The lyrics aren't anything dirty, I can assure you that."

"You better make sure. I already like that song. If I find out even something remotely wrong with the lyrics, I'm throwing you into Dragon Training." Astrid replies with a playful smirk on her face that betrays the rather serious tone she used to deliver her threat with. Hiccup simply nods combined with a smile of his own. Then the two shared a laugh.

For a while, the two spent their time together in comfortable silence, watching the wide seas before them that surrounds the island illuminated by the moon and the stars.

"I could live like this, you know." Astrid says, breaking the silence. Hiccup turns to her. "If things were always this peaceful. It's...all beautiful." she tells him while still looking at the coast. "I bet thing's like this won't faze you anymore. You've probably seen more wonderful things than this, but for me...times like this...they're more beautiful than anything else."

Hiccup hesitated a first. He wanted to say something but instead but decided to hold his piece. _'_ _ _Not yet…not now.'__ he tells himself. Nonetheless, he wants tell her things. Express long-hidden feelings he's always had for so long.

Then, a rather playful idea pops in his head.

If Hadrian would say his life right now is unfolding like that main character in that crappy novel, he might as well play the part then.

" _ _Ie. Anata wa__ _ _kirei da na__ _ _.__ _*"_ he tells her with a soft smile.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Astrid asks him. _'There he goes again.'_ Astrid thought. She was quite surprised when Hiccup replied to her. It wasn't like she actually expected a reply from the wanderer.

 _"_ _ _Sore wa himitsudesu.*"__ he replies to her with a playful grin. Now she knows he's just messing with her.

"Seriously, cut it out." she tells him. Then she punches his shoulder, earning a small _"Ouch."_ from the young man. "Now tell me." she scolds him.

" _ _Tondemonai.__ _*_ " he still tells her playfully. Apparently he seems into this game a bit too much.

"HICCUP!" Astrid says raising her voice a little, with a small "fake" pout on her face. Which is then followed by another punch on the shoulder. Not really intended to hurt but to snap him out of his nonsense, or so the blonde shieldmaiden thinks. While it was quite amusing, for Astrid it was starting to get annoying.

 _"_ _ _Shōrai wa…Watashi wa anata ni subete oshieteageru. Yakusoku suru."__ Hiccup tells her then chuckles. Before Astrid could round him up with another punch, he tells her, "In the future...I promise."

Astrid simply nods her head, but not before…

 **TWACK.**

"Ow." Hiccup says after receiving a rather strong smack on the head from the blonde Viking.

"That's for talking to me in another language." Astrid replies to him.

 _"_ _ _Mendokusaii onna.*"__ he mutters. Upon hearing that, Astrid smacks him again.

 **TWACK.**

"Seriously!? I wasn't even talking about you." okay so he was lying about that part but still…"What's with you and violence? Did you two have a history or something?" he remarks, personifying the essence violence as if it were another person whom she dated in the past.

"Nothing. I just felt you were insulting me with what you last said." she tells him nonchalantly. Hiccup twitched. Before Hiccup could utter another word, Astrid threatens him, "If I hear another word from you in any other language other than Norse, the next punch is to the gut." She cracked her knuckles to emphasize her point.

"Okay..okay..jeez. I'm sorry. You really know how to take a guy's breath away don't you? Literally." Hiccup rambles.

Astrid simply gives off a small laugh at Hiccup's remarks, not before long Hiccup joins her.

"What language was that?" She asks him anyway after they both stopped laughing.

"Japanese." Hiccup answers her.

"You're quite the polyglot, aren't you?" Astrid compliments him.

"Uhh..Thanks?" Hiccup replies.

After a while, Astrid leans closer to him.

"Hiccup, will you play it again?" Astrid asks him.

" _ _Futari no Kimochi__ _?_ " he asks her. She nods.

"I kind of like it." Astrid says with a smile. "Even if I don't understand the lyrics, it just sounds..nice."

 _'_ _ _How can I say no that'__ Hiccup says to himself as he looks to the blonde shieldmaiden who is smiling softly at him. Before he could start strumming, Astrid asks him one more question.

"What does __Futari no Kimochi__ mean anyway?"

" _Two Feelings_ , actually." he answers her.

With that, the young man strums on the strings and starts singing once again. Before them, the cold evening breeze blows letting the notes fall into the wind.

* * *

 ***Mandarin -** I'm not really sure what the official language during the Song Dynasty was. Let's just assume it was Mandarin, for the sake of the story.

 **Some translations:**

 ***" _Ie. Anata wa_ _kirei da na_** _ **"** -_ _No. You're beautiful_ _. (A/N: it was originally utsukushidesu but I thought kirei da na would have more impact to it.)_

 _*_ **"Sore wa himitsudesu."** _\- It's a secret._

 ***** _ **"Tondemonai**_ ** **."**** _\- No way_

 _*_ **"Mendokusaii onna."** _\- Troublesome woman_

 **A/N:** _Actually, this chapter wasn't supposed to exist in the first place. It just happened that last night, I came across a Chinese version of Futari no Kimochi (from the anime series Inu Yasha) on Youtube while I was listening to some OSTs. I didn't get any copy of translations to it though, sorry. Apparently, only the Chinese version of the song had lyrics to it. (If anything really, this chapter is more of an extension of chapter 5. Not really a sixth chapter)_


	7. Chapter 7

**And so comes the seventh chapter.**

 **DISLAIMER: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon. Rights belong to Cressida Cowell and Dreamworks**

* * *

 ** _The Cove, Berk Island Forests_**

"καλημέρα! **"** Hadrian says as yawns and greets his companion in his own native language a cheerful ' _Good Morning'_. The previous night's sleep while lacking the comfort of a soft bed was refreshing in its own way. The cool evening breeze was a good way to sleep in especially under the stars. His companion opens an eye to acknowledge the Roman swordmaster. Hadrian gives off a small smile.

"So what's up with you? Any plans for the day?" the Roman asks. His companion simply answers with a grunt and closes his eyes once more.

"Right. Well just go ahead and go back sleep. I'll be heading back to the village. I'll go on check on Hiccup, don't worry. See you, **T**." he tells the still sleeping figure. With that, Hadrian leaves the Cove, leaving his still sleeping companion behind who promptly returned to his sleep.

 _ **Berk Village, Haddock Residence**_

The walk to the village was quite a long one, but it was a good way to remove the morning chills that came from sleeping out the previous night. Despite being to so many cold places during his travels; he was still trying to get used with the cold of Berk. It was at times like this when he'd miss the warm sun from the warmer regions in Asia during their traveling days

While on his way to the Haddock cottage to get a change of clothes and some breakfast, he saw Hiccup coming in as well yawning with their late master's lute in one hand and a recently purchased bread wrapped in a small paper parcel from the local bakery in the other.

"Well someone looks like a sight for sore eyes. I was about to get some bread once I stopped by here, but it seems you've beaten me to it." Hadrian says greeting the younger man, noticing the eye bags signifying lack of sleep. "What happened? You look as if you didn't get some sleep last night."

Hiccup yawned before answering, "Went to the house to get this (tapping on the lute) right after training, just a few moments after you started sleeping." he says. Another yawn. "Ran into Astrid on the way back into the woods." Yet another yawn. "Then I got dragged with the night patrol."

While listening, Hadrian had already opened the door to the cottage. With a slight nudge, he had the young Haddock enter first, he followed soon. He then took the door and closed it. Hiccup then took a seat at the dining table setting down both his lute on the ground, leaning it against his chair's leg and placing parcel containing the bread on the table. Hadrian meanwhile prepares the cups, the drinks, and the plates. When Hadrian was done, he also takes a seat across Hiccup. The two then start to share the small breakfast.

"So how was he?" Hiccup inquires with concern before taking a bite out of a piece of bread.

"Don't worry." Hadrian says before drinking. "Ah that's good," Hadrian remarks after taking a large gulp of water from his cup. "Still sleeping when I left him."

Hiccup simply smiles to the Roman as a form of thanks. The Roman returns the gesture with a nod.

"So, Astrid huh?" Hadrian suddenly inquires out of nowhere with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

 _'_ _ _I probably should not have said that.__ _ _.'__ Hiccup says to himself as he looks to his sworn brother with an exasperated look in his eyes. He simply sighs in defeat and begins his story, "Look, I just ran into her when I was out into the woods to practice. She convinced me to come with her to share a meal with the night patrol. Before I knew it , I was dragged down with them the whole night."

"I thought she avoided you like you're some leper?" Hadrian asked before biting off a good portion of his bread.

"We…" Hiccup pauses trying to think about his next words. "…talked…and came to an agreement." he finishes.

Genuinely, he was surprised at Astrid's out-of-nowhere apology; but it was a start. At least if they'd learn to be friends, the arrangement might workout for them. Personally, he wanted something more but he learned not expect much. For now, he wants to enjoy what he has with her…while they last. To his surprise, Hadrian decided not to press to much on the issue and nodded and continued eating.

"So what's your plan for the day?" Hadrian suddenly speaks getting Hiccup's attention.

"Catch up on some sleep I guess." Hiccup says after a yawn. He fells like his eyelids are getting heavy. He needs sleep. **NOW.**

Hadrian simply nodded. "Very well then. Go, get some sleep after you're done. I'll take care of this." the potter says, the last statement referring to the used utensils.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Finished with his bread, Hiccup takes a gulp from the water in his mug. He then walks and proceeds to his room. Before he could do so, Hadrian speaks out.

"By the way. That last night's 'Kiss-and-make-up' thing. I approve." the Roman says with two thumbs up and a ridiculous grin on his face. "Seriously, confessions or apologies under the moonlight are _so_ on the top of my list of romantic scenes."

Hiccup turns around and shoots his sworn brother a disbelieving look. "Seriously?"

"What? Totally cliche..but I still like it." Hadrian says with a playful smirk on his face.

Hiccup sighs. "How did that even cross your mind?"

"Its not that hard to look into it. You told me you two made up. Its not like you have done anything bad to her; obviously she apologized to you. You accepted her apology; that much is obvious. Then from there comes the classic 'let's be friends' routine." the Roman concluded.

Hiccup winced. How he deduced all that, Hiccup did not want to know. Before he could say anything, Hadrian interrupted him.

" _ _My Teenage Romantic Saga Is Mistaken As I Always Expected__ _,_ volume three, chapter two." Hadrian remarks dryly as if reading through Hiccup's face. "What? Its already written in your face." he shrugs.

Shooting a glare at the Roman, Hiccup replying dryly, "You need to cut down on those books of yours."

"What can I say, the writer was good. Very good." Hadrian answered with an amused tone. "Ah yes, I hoped you didn't forget to sing a song or two for her. That lute you brought with you would've been a waste of space." he teased the young Berkian.

Hiccup froze for a moment. __'__ _ _What the…__ _ _'__ he tells himself. Before he could say something, Hadrian interrupts him again upon seeing his reaction.

"You did…didn't you?" Hadrian concludes then gives off a small laugh. "My God, this is gold. Come on, tell me more." Hadrian says wriggling his eyes in a blatant attempt at teasing Hiccup.

Hiccup gave a look at Hadrian that promised a painful death; but the Roman simply continued smirking, unthreatened by the blacksmith apprentice. Suddenly the huge figure of Stoick the Vast enters the house as the Haddock patriarch opens the door and his large figure looming over the two.

"Good morning, boys." the Viking chief greets the duo with a rather cheerful but booming voice.

"Good morning dad." Hiccup greets his father back after a yawn.

"Chief." Hadrian gives a semi-salute at the bearded man.

"So (yawn), how was the hunting trip?" Hiccup inquires.

"It was great. Looks like we'd be having a feast tonight." Stoick answers him with excitement in his voice at the last part. Upon noticing Hiccup's general state of appearance, he asks "Problems sleeping last night?" Unlike Hiccup, Stoick was able to get a good rest during the night before the hunting party returned back to Berk that morning.

"No dad. (yawn) Got dragged with the night patrol last night." Hiccup explained. "I'm going to catch up on some sleep." With that, Hiccup proceeds to his room, leaving the two in the Haddock dining hall.

Before very long, Hiccup's voice emanates from his room, "Oh yeah. If any of you guys see Astrid tell her to give the keys I left with her to Gobber. It seems she's forgotten to put them on my table."

Stoick gave out a surprised look upon hearing his son's reminder. Hadrian though seemed calm, almost amused upon hearing this.

"Sure." the Roman replies to Hiccup.

"Bread?" the still eating Hadrian says, offering out a rather large slice of bread to the newly-arrived large man.

"Did something happen while I was away?" Stoick says turning to Hadrian's general direction as he takes a seat by the dining table, receives the bread offered to him, and takes a bite. The Viking chieftain was left wondered by the sudden turn of events. Astrid and Hiccup? Talking?

"Not my story to tell, Chief." Hadrian shrugs but returns the elder Haddock's bewildered look with a grin. "You might be seeing it later though. Don't worry. I think you'll enjoy the show later."

"Anything you'd like to share, lad?" Stoick said, raising an eyebrow at the Roman's remark.

"Όχι." Hadrian says, grinning at the Viking chief.

"And that is supposed to mean?"

"As I said earlier, _'Not my story to tell.'_ Chief."

"And as I told you before, call me Stoick." Stoick reminds Hadrian in a stern tone. Something did definitely happen while he was away on that trip.

"I'll keep that in mind." the Roman shrugs. "You done yet? I'm going to start cleaning." he mentions as he stands from the dining table and starts moving towards the washing area.

"You go ahead lad. I can manage."

"Suit yourself."

With that, the morning in the Haddock household ends. Stoick proceeded to his duties in preparation for the celebrated blonde shieldmaiden's birthday party and her formal induction as Stoick's new heir. Hadrian then rested for a while before proceeding to his room and change his clothes before going to his own workshop.

Something in the skies told him things will get interesting this day.

 ** _Docks, Berk Island_**

Along docks of Berk, three young women could be seen meeting one another. Three young women who would one day become one of the most influential people on the Archipelago. Astrid Hofferson, finest warrior of her time and future heiress of Berk; Heather, heiress of the Berserker tribe, one of the largest and most powerful tribes in the Archipelago; and Camicazi, heiress of the Bog Burglars.

"Heather…Camicazi." Astrid curtly greets the two visitors, welcoming them to Berk. Earlier, Stoick assigned her with the duty of welcoming their guests before she goes back to sleep. She would've brought Hiccup with her; it would make things easier for her when she deals with the two especially with Camicazi but he was already struggling to stay awake the whole morning. Thus she decided to cut him some slack. After all, she already practically dragged him the whole night and he didn't even get to rest in between unlike her.

"Astrid!" Heather exclaims as she runs towards the blonde shieldmaiden with a big smile on her face and envelops her in a warm hug. "Happy Birthday" she greets.

"Thanks." Astrid returns her friend's greeting and warm embrace with a smile. Meanwhile, Camicazi who was slow to approaching the two also greets the Berkian though not with as much enthusiasm as how the other one did.

"Hofferson" the wavy haired blonde Bog Burglar heiress curtly greets her. Astrid acknowledges her by returning the gesture with a nod.

While they were walking away from the docks towards the village proper itself, Camicazi suddenly springs a question.

"So, where's Hiccup?" Camicazi asks with a distant tone, clearly indicating she wanted to be anywhere except near the blond shieldmaiden. Heather tries to reprimand the Bog of her tone only to be replied with a steely glare.

Astrid winced at Camicazi's words. She had an inkling as to why Camicazi acts like this but there was nothing she could do for now. All she could would be to explain everything to Camicazi.

"He's probably at their house." Astrid answers her with a defeated sigh.

"I'm wasting myself in this nonsense." Camicazi mutters barely audible to her two companions. It was at that point that the Bog heiress felt she was wasting her time that she made a dash towards the path leading to the Haddock residence.

"Camicazi wait, he might be…." she tries to call Camicazi's attention but her attempt falls on deaf ears as the blonde heiress was already out of earshot. "…sleeping."

With that, only Heather and Astrid remained.

"You two should try to get along." Heather suddenly says giving a concerned look at her close friend.

"I know." Astrid admits. "Its obvious really. She came for Hiccup, not for me. She's just here because she has to. She doesn't like me. Not after what I did to Hiccup n front of her back in Shivering Shores." she adds.

"Don't 'll come around. If you want, I'll give you a hand." Heather reassures Astrid. Astrid simply gives off a small nod.

The two continue to walk along the streets of Berk without their third companion. It was no secret that despite the formal civility between the two blondes, there was nothing but mutual dislike for each other. The way Astrid treated Camicazi's childhood friend, Hiccup last week only made things worse. Astrid understands that she had to do something about it. Maybe letting her go to Hiccup might do just that. Camicazi can't stand being near her, but Hiccup may try to explain things to the Bog Burglar heiress. She only hoped Hiccup wouldn't mind it.

"So, how are things between you and Hiccup by the way?" Heather suddenly inquires.

Astrid was a bit surprised although if anything, she did expect Heather to pop this question sooner or later. "We…" she pauses to choose her next words wisely. "..came to an agreement."

"Huh?" Heather asks with a curious tone.

"We both agreed to 'put everything behind' and start out as friends." Astrid replies with a small controlled smile.

"Since when?"

:...Last…..night actually. Ran into him while patrolling..we talked." Astrid admits.

"Wow." Heather says with suprise in her voice. Not too long later, Heather gives the blonde shieldmaiden a knowing smirk.

"It's not like that, Heather" the blonde shieldmaiden agrees. Suddenly, the urgency to sleep also takes hold of Astrid before she knew it, she gave a heartful yawn.

"It's been a night, Heath. I need to sleep." Astrid tells her friend. "Come on I'll take you to Fishlegs, then I'm going home."

"Okay." Heather agrees with the shieldmaiden. Not before, a mischievous idea forms in her mind. "Now, before everything else, you're going to tell me what exactly happened _last night_ Ast." she tells her close friend with a mischievous smirk on her face.

Astrid coud only give her friend a disbelieving look…and a groan to the skies. This will be a very long morning. A small part of her now wishes that the Ingermann residence wasn't so far from where they are standing right now.

 ** _Berk Village, Haddock Residence_**

 **BANG**

 **BANG**

 **BANG**

' _Who in God's name would try to make so much noise in the Chief's house?!'_ the Roman thinks to himself as he hears the rather impatient banging on the door. It was earlier when he was picking up on his change of clothes when someone started knocking on the door of the cottage..quite loudly he might say.

"Wait! Alright! I'm opening the damn door. Would it kill you to wait a for a few more seconds?" Hadrian shouts impatiently once he was done changing. Somehow it didn't work as the banging only became louder. It even woke Hiccup up and the younger man went out of his room to check on it, following Hadrian's steps.

" _Kuso..._ Vikings…You guys should hang out more with monks. Maybe you'd learn some quiet and patience in your life." Hadrian mutters to his sworn brother who now stood by his side as he opened the door.

To Hadrian's, he saw a rather small but messy blond-haired figure immediately dashed towards Hiccup in an embrace, tackling the younger man straight to the ground.

"Ooof." Hiccup yelps in pain. He then looks to the figure that tackled him and immediately recognizes the messy blonde on top of him. "C-C-Cami?" he says with suprise evident in his tone.

Camicazi looks up to him and greets him. "Hey. Surprised Hic?" she says with a grin.

From the corner of his eyes, he could see Hadrian plastering that annoying smirk on his face every time Hiccup lands himself in awkward, embarrassing, or any other situations the Roman finds amusing.

"You two might want to remove yourselves from each other." Hadrian remarks in an amused tone.

At that point Hiccup and Cami suddenly stood up. Cami first, then she offered a hand to the blacksmith apprentice as support for him to stand.

"I must say Hiccup. Just when things between you and Astrid are getting better, you're trying to cheat on her." Hadrian says dryly.

Hiccup simply sends a glare towards the Roman which the Roman only replies with an amused smirk. Camicazi who at this point already started to look into the third person with them from head to toe. Piecing puzzles from Hiccup's stories to her and Thuggory back when they reunited back on Shivering Shores, she turns to Hiccup for confirmation.

"Wait Hic, is this half-troll the Hadrian guy you've been telling us about?" Camicazi says pointing a finger towards the Roman while looking at her childhood friend.

Before Hiccup could say anything Hadrian speaks his word.

" _Hadrian Alexius Mu_ , _milady_." the Roman swordsman says. He then delivers a dramatic bow towards the Bog Burglar heiress to deliver a small flair for his introduction. Then he stands properly and gives her a small smirk. "Camicazi, am I right?" he then offers a hand to her as a form of greeting.

Camicazi returned the gesture by accepting the Roman's hand and replied with a small smile.

The rather amusing scene would've continued on a bit longer had it not been the moment when Hiccup decides to give yet another yawn. What soon followed were a series of chuckles between the Bog Burglar heiress and the Roman swordmaster.

For Hiccup this would be a very long morning.

' _26 hours of no sleep…and counting.'_ Hiccup notes to himself sleepily.

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 **A/N:** I hope you guys liked it. Originally, I wanted for this story to end by the seventh chapter but the scenes I got played in my mind would make too long chapters and I really don't like writing very long chapters. So probably this story would drag on longer, but I promise it won't exceed ten chapters.

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I just revised all seven chapters. Next chapter will be posted either tomorrow or two days from now. Sorry. I've been busy these past month with us moving out and real life stuff. Just a friendly reminder to anyone here who plans to be a doctor in the future: Think twice, thrice, or even four times if you need to. Medicine not an easy thing...it is quite fun learning things though.

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Read and review everyone.


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